If Labor wins, the Jewish community faces a challenge rebuilding bridges

If a week is a long time in politics, a five-week election campaign is an eternity. 

When I wrote two months ago that antisemitism was shaping up to be a key issue in an Australian federal election for the first time in our lives, the issue dominating the lives of Jewish Australians was also dominating the news cycle and political debate. 

Newspoll had the Coalition ahead 51-49 on a two-party preferred basis, and a hung parliament was looming as overwhelmingly likely. The prospect of the Albanese Labor Government becoming the first single-term government to lose in Australia since 1931 was a plausible scenario. Peter Dutton was not only resonating with the Jewish community, he seemed to have the momentum and ascendancy with the broader population. 

But a lot has changed in the last two months. Midway through the election campaign proper, Labor now leads Newspoll 52-48. Dutton’s approval ratings have plummeted, Anthony Albanese’s lead as Preferred Prime Minister has widened, and Labor has gone from a $2.60 outsider to hold government with Sportsbet in early March to a $1.16 favourite in mid-April. 

The conversation has changed too – the usual issues that dominate elections – the economy and cost of living, housing and healthcare, energy and climate – are dominating as they always do. Following high-profile arrests and legislative reforms, antisemitism has stopped dominating the national headlines.